One of the Oilers’ pleasant surprises this year has been the play of centre/right wing Mark Arcobello. The minor-league journeyman got an opportunity early thanks to some injuries at centre, and made the most of it, playing so well that it was impossible for the Oilers to demote him to the minors.

Given that Edmonton has to make a decision on Arcobello by the end of this season, it’s worth looking at his season in a little more detail. Are there linemates who drive his results? Does he play well with everybody?

The Chart

I have been recording Edmonton line combinations all year, as well as even-strength scoring chances. Because of that, we can easily see how Arcobello has performed in combination with given wingers.

With Skill

Playing with even one skill player on his line, Arcobello has been exceptional, scoring at a 53-point pace over an 82-game season. That’s a good number, and it actually undersells his play; he isn’t a pure finisher (50 goals on 494 career AHL shots, just over 10.0% at that level) but even so his current 1-for-43 stretch on those lines isn’t likely to continue simply because even the worst NHL players convert on more shots than that. He’s averaging almost two shots per game in that role, so the goals will come.

The scoring chance numbers are excellent too, with only three combinations seeing him finish below the break-even mark. He, Taylor Hall and Ales Hemsky got filled in on a night where the Oilers were crushed by Vancouver, he struggled in a tough minutes role in place of Boyd Gordon, and then on a line with a struggling Yakupov and minor-leaguer Ryan Hamilton he finished one scoring chance below 0.500.

That’s it. Every other line combination has been 0.500 or better in terms of scoring chances on a team that’s been lit up this season.

At Right Wing

Superficially, Arcobello’s numbers when on the right wing of the Boyd Gordon-centered defensive line (five games, two points, minus-five) aren’t good, but when we look at the scoring chances he’s actually been doing just fine.

This is particularly impressive given the assortment of left wings he’s played with in that role. There is Ryan Jones, who cleared waivers and had a minor-league stint this year. There are Linus Omark and Ryan Hamilton, two players who have spent most of the year in the minors. There is Jesse Joensuu, who would be in the minors if he didn’t stand 6’4”.

The evidence suggests that Arcobello would do just fine as the primary right wing and second faceoff man on a defensive zone line. His shot totals even went up in that role this year.

With Grinders

It is as fourth-line centre that Arcobello’s numbers fall of a cliff. His shot totals drop, his offence goes away and his line gets out-chanced. Pretty grim, except that it isn’t.

Arcobello’s problems are confined to his time on a line with Luke Gazdic. Playing with Ryan Jones and Jesse Joensuu he managed four shots in two games and his line out-chanced the opposition 6-2. With Gazdic, Arcobello has just two shots in five games and the Oilers are out-chanced 16-7.

That sounds bad, but it’s actually a step forward for Gazdic. With scoring chances counted for every game save the Oilers’ home match against Philadelphia at the end of December (which, if this cold holds up, I’ll grade today) Edmonton has been out-chanced by a 58-23 margin with Gazdic on the ice. So the comparison actually looks like this:

Gazdic has served as a millstone, dragging the rest of the fourth line down with him all season, and he’s done the same with Arcobello (I should note that the last three games have seen a dramatic turnaround in Gazdic’s play; he has been better in all areas and it’s showed up in a +9/-7 on-ice scoring chances number. Two of those games came with Arcobello at centre; the other last night came with Ryan Smyth).

Conclusion

This season, Mark Arcobello has made everybody around him better. When a guy drives scoring chances like that, and particularly when he can win faceoffs and kill penalties and never backs down from a physical confrontation, the fact that he’s 5’8” can’t be the determining factor. He can fill-in on any line, at right wing or at centre and be trusted in all three zones.

In one way, it is a testament to the work being done by the coaches in Oklahoma City, since this wasn’t the player Arcobello was when he joined the team halfway through 2010-11. In a much larger way, it’s a testament to the person Arcobello is.

Guys with political science degrees from Yale have plenty of options, and the temptation to do something else must have been tremendous. Instead he worked his way up from the ECHL, turned himself into the kind of player who could do whatever the situation called for and forced a league obsessed with size to keep him on.

Jonathan Willis is a freelance writer.
He currently works for Oilers Nation, Sportsnet, the Edmonton Journal and Bleacher Report.
He's co-written three books and worked for myriad websites, including Grantland, ESPN, The Score, and Hockey Prospectus. He was previously the founder and managing editor of Copper & Blue.

Great article JW. Anyone can identify the major holes on this team that is keeping them back from fielding a competitive teams every night. However, players like Mark (hopefully) is the kind of talent you need for depth on a good team. Despite his size he plays tough, he can move up and down the lineup and has a great work ethic. I hope that he sticks.

even though he's had his rough patches this year, what a find this guy has been! I love the way this 5' 9" man plays! he has obvious skill, he skates well, not afraid to hit for a guy his size, works hard, great attitude and will play where the coach puts him, no questions asked. I don't care how small he is, I would like to see him stay here long term and be able to enjoy the spoils of this team becoming a winner someday. not bad for a guy who played one game last year and was branded a "minor leaguer".

As long as we continue to have a small d corps, guys like Arco in the middle - makes it real tough to handle low threats in the d zone.

This is particularly true playing the larger teams in our division, who are standing in the way of a playoff position.

He's a good guy but a difficult fit in the middle under these circumstances, so giving him a go on the wing makes sense.

We have to get Gagner out of the middle for the some of the same reasons.

I do think that's a legitimate concern, but two things stand out to me.

Firstly, Arcobello has fared pretty well on Gordon's right wing and can reasonably be moved over to that side (as you note) if there's a problem, and second he has that nice combination of smarts and tenacity that makes it difficult for anybody he's playing against.

It wouldn't bother me even a little if he's starting as the C/RW of line four next season who moves up in certain games/situations.

I don't know how some of the other guys in the locker room can look themselves in the mirror. Arco is the smallest guy in the room by a mile and still leads the forwards in hits. They all need a lot more of That in everyone else's game. Love this guy.

You want George to come out of retirement or will you be taking up his role? See a lot of others willing to go when needed on this team JW?

He isn't perfect but better than what we've had for years and better have a few of him than a whole team of smurfs or whatever a team put together by you would look like...

Actually, I went out of my way to note how he's turned around the last three games. If he can keep doing that, I'll be perfectly happy to talk about how useful he is.

If he doesn't keep it up, I'll keep pointing out that he isn't an NHL player.

Now if you want to pretend a guy who has been getting out-chanced 3:1 and brings up the rear in that category on the worst team in the Western Conference is a useful NHL player, that's your business. Just don't ask anybody rational to share your delusion.

People used to knocked on Dave Hunter for his size as well, but he served a purpose on the Oil team very well. You look at Arcobello, but what he lacks in size, he more than compensate in heart and hard work! And if the Oil had 25 guys that played like him, we might be even talking about playoffs now, not tanking! So pay the man what's coming to him, he's earn it!!!

I just think that with the current state of affairs within the organization, we can't afford to have too many small guys. We need to bulk up, and we need to bulk up fast. Ebs, Nuge, Perron.. not the biggest guys, but they won't be replaced for the sake of bulky compete guys. That leaves guys like Gagner, Hemsky, Arco, Smyth as the pieces MacT's most likely going to swap out before next season.

I don't have anything against Arco, he's a great player. I just don't see him fitting in with what needs to be done with this team. We need to be bigger, and that's less likely happen at the expense of an Eberle than it is for an Arcobello.

I wasn't a fan of Ryan Jones before this year but since he got sent down he has been playing great on the fourth line. I just hated seeing him in the top nine. I would resign Jones for 900k one year deal. Ryan smyth 1 million one year deal also.

Actually, I went out of my way to note how he's turned around the last three games. If he can keep doing that, I'll be perfectly happy to talk about how useful he is.

If he doesn't keep it up, I'll keep pointing out that he isn't an NHL player.

Now if you want to pretend a guy who has been getting out-chanced 3:1 and brings up the rear in that category on the worst team in the Western Conference is a useful NHL player, that's your business. Just don't ask anybody rational to share your delusion.

Could you humour us and tell us which enforcer meets your criteria? I have been an Oiler fan for over 30 years and cannot remember an enforcer who was able to create sustainable offence while still fighting........at least anyone who could skate like Gazdic.

As far as Acrebello goes, it's easy to see why he is so effective. No advanced stats necessary he uses the Gretzky principle for playing hockey.

Keep him on a one year one way deal for 900k . He would take that in a heartbeat. Love his play, one of the only guys on the team who finishes his checks hard consistently. Plus guys are more valuable on one year deals at the trade deadline. In fact if he keeps playing well he could fetch us a 2nd round pick this year at the deadline. Good return for guy drafted at the bottom. I'd rather keep him though.

I just think that with the current state of affairs within the organization, we can't afford to have too many small guys. We need to bulk up, and we need to bulk up fast. Ebs, Nuge, Perron.. not the biggest guys, but they won't be replaced for the sake of bulky compete guys. That leaves guys like Gagner, Hemsky, Arco, Smyth as the pieces MacT's most likely going to swap out before next season.

I don't have anything against Arco, he's a great player. I just don't see him fitting in with what needs to be done with this team. We need to be bigger, and that's less likely happen at the expense of an Eberle than it is for an Arcobello.

my thinking is Gagner and/or Hemsky will be traded,(hopefully both) opening up 2 spots on the roster for larger players to be signed this summer (I hope). with bigger players up front who can play, you can get away with having a guy the size of Arco play on your team. the Oilers are always saying they want to get bigger (and with talent) up front to be able to compete with the bigger Western conference teams, aren't they?

Actually, I went out of my way to note how he's turned around the last three games. If he can keep doing that, I'll be perfectly happy to talk about how useful he is.

If he doesn't keep it up, I'll keep pointing out that he isn't an NHL player.

Now if you want to pretend a guy who has been getting out-chanced 3:1 and brings up the rear in that category on the worst team in the Western Conference is a useful NHL player, that's your business. Just don't ask anybody rational to share your delusion.

I am happy for Arco or "the Utility Man". I watched him work his way from the ECHL to an AHL all star to a trusted centre in the NHL. It seems as if the Work Ethic in OkC is far different from up in Oil Country. Guys down there are playing with heart and battling hard. Taylor Fedun, Brandon Davidson are both battling hard after past obstacles. Barons alumni Arcobello, and Jonathan Cheechoo(was thought to have no more game) have worked their way from useless players to great players in their new leagues. Oil should have had the coaching staff as Todd Nelson as head coach, Rocky Thompson and Gerry Flemming as Assistant Coaches, and someone else as associate coach

Finally, someone who is giving Arco some credit...
eakins finally pulled his stubborn head out of the rear end of a jackass & moved Gagner over to the wing (by the way, heard an interview by Sam & he actually thinks that he is a #2 C in the NHL, is he delusional?) & put Arco at C, which should have happened at least 15 games ago. The stats above just go to prove that. Id really like to see the same stats put towards Gagner.
putting Sam on the wing and Arco at 2nd line C should help this team cut down on its goals against (as long as the goalies do their job) & shouls also aid in the scoring chances for, which should give the Oilers more goals, thus giving them more wins
Just a thought
PECK

Keep him on a one year one way deal for 900k . He would take that in a heartbeat. Love his play, one of the only guys on the team who finishes his checks hard consistently. Plus guys are more valuable on one year deals at the trade deadline. In fact if he keeps playing well he could fetch us a 2nd round pick this year at the deadline. Good return for guy drafted at the bottom. I'd rather keep him though.

News from Buffalo that Grigorenko is refusing to report to CHL after being sent down by team. A lot of posters here were very high on him due to position and size. It shows again that most kids struggle to make the jump to the NHL. Is there a trade there while his value is lowered?

my thinking is Gagner and/or Hemsky will be traded,(hopefully both) opening up 2 spots on the roster for larger players to be signed this summer (I hope). with bigger players up front who can play, you can get away with having a guy the size of Arco play on your team. the Oilers are always saying they want to get bigger (and with talent) up front to be able to compete with the bigger Western conference teams, aren't they?

We're already trying to get away with having guys the size of Nuge and Ebs on the team. Like I said, I don't have issue with him as a player, and respect his compete level, but if they're expecting him to line up against guys the likes of Backes, Hanzal and Thorton, his compete isn't going to matter. We need to be bigger down the middle. At both 2C and 3/4C.

If the opportunity develops to turn him over for a comparably skilled player with an extra six inches of height and 40 pounds of muscle, that deals gonna happen. As it should.

Why not? The Devils went to the cup final with Stephen Gionta playing on the fourth line. The Oilers won't win or lose with him on the team. Just because they need a big center and more competitive players with size in their top 9 doesn't mean they have no room for Arco. Smyth, Hemsky, Jones, Joensuu, Gagner, and Gadzic should all be jettisoned in favor of more competitive two way players, but Arco should not.